Patrick Dangerfield says he’s open to relinquishing the Geelong captaincy as he enters what is likely to be the second last year of his Hall of Fame career.
The Cats skipper, who turns 35 in April, has held the role for the past two seasons following the retirement of Joel Selwood following the 2022 grand final win.
“It’s about the right person for the job for next year,” Dangerfield said as the entire Geelong list returned for the start of pre-season training.
“I don’t think it’s anyone’s to own for a long period of time – unless you’re Joel Selwood.
“It’s what’s best for the footy club. It’s the most important thing that I always keep front of mind.”
Geelong has operated with a streamlined leadership group in recent years, with only Dangerfield and vice-captain Tom Stewart holding official titles.
Stewart, who turns 32 on the day of the Round 1 clash with Fremantle at GMHBA Stadium, is the logical successor.
However, there are raps for the next generation, including reigning best-and-fairest Max Holmes and small forward Gryan Miers.
“We’ve got a decent enough runway into next season to deal with that sort of stuff… in January, February.
“The coaches will get together and put forward their ideas on where that sits.
“But, from a players’ perspective, I don’t think there’s any rush.
“We’ve still got an experienced group, even (though) there’s a lot of young players.
“So, I think it’ll be January, February that we get to that short of stuff.”
As well as being the first official day of training for Geelong’s more experienced players, it also marked the first session where former Western Bulldog Bailey Smith was in the company of all his new teammates.
“He’s obviously coming back from ACL, so the challenge with him is sort of pulling him back because he wants to get into it all, and, obviously, it’s a new environment for him,” Dangerfield said.
“We’ll make sure we’re not cranking it up too high too early because it’s a long season.”
Smith, who turns 24 on Saturday, arrives at GMHBA Stadium, with the Cats confident he can have an impact.
“The expectations are very high because he came in as a young player and played really well really early,” Dangerfield.
“People sometimes forget he’s only 23… and if I look at my own self, and you reflect and you go, “What were you like at the same age?”, the hardest part was consistency.
“That’s the part he’ll want to get right. That’s the part Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Dempsey, the list is neverending in terms of players because that’s the key to good performance.”
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